The Tate Modern hosted the exhibition "Gauguin: Maker of Myth," displaying the life of the French artist. I am not a fan of his artwork, as his sense of aesthetics is very different from mine; I automatically become more engaged with a painting based on its aesthetic factor. Visual dynamics make an artwork something I want to look at and understand. Many of Gauguin's compositions were balanced and stagnant, and I did not spend a lot of time with any particular piece. I respect Gauguin for developing his own style--one that was simplified and enabled him to explore complex ideas--but the flatness of shapes and figures made the subjects of the paintings seem more like exotic objects. Additionally, I did not get the sense that Gauguin was an active member of French and Tahitian politics. I only was able to find out about that part of his life through other parts of the exhibition, since his paintings conveyed idyllic settings. Perhaps I should have spent more time contemplating his work in order to get the 'bigger picture,' but I only saw an idealization of a colony.
On the other hand, I enjoyed a couple of Gauguin's still-life paintings. I admired the brushwork for the flowers, especially in "Still-Life with Peonies." Traditionally in still-life paintings, the namesake flowers were linked to transience but more importantly, pretentiousness and egotism; I thought it was a good reflection of the artist's confident attitude.
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